revision

Diversity&equity and collaboration&leadership are essential skills for IAS students to obtain. According to Hyman&Jacobs, who point out in the article of  Why Does Diversity Matter at College Anyway, “Diversity expands worldliness”. (Hyman&Jacobs, 2009) In college, there are all kinds of diverse group of people. In class, people from different places are gathering as a small group to complete the same project. It is every team member’s responsibility to finish their own task. It’s also the ability to obtain for a qualifies employee.

At the very first place, I was a shy person and I was afraid to talk with my team member. So I barely talk in class. However, when I took one of my communication class, I made a progress in these skills. The class is about introduction to the theory and practice of media and communication studies. During the class, the biggest task is the final presentation of a radio project. This section provides us with an opportunity to make sense of the materials and ideas in the course through an applied collaborative project in a small group with my peers. Working collaboratively with my team member was actually interesting and also challenging. We all came from different countries. Hyman&Jacobs claimed that “Diversity prepares students for work in a global society”(Hyman&Jacobs, 2009). By experiencing diversity in my small group, I learned how to interact with people under different cultural backgrounds. Hyman&Jacobs also pointed that “Interactions with people different ourselves increase our knowledge base.”(Hyman&Jacob, 2009) During the meetings, my team members always show me some new knowledge I’ve never learned before. Sometimes I am stuck on one task. However, after communicating with my team member, I learned from them and enhanced my own knowledge. We worked as a group collaboratively on the final radio project script. Everyone had his or her own part and gathered together at the end of the presentation. Finally we got a high score. It was the success of collaboration. 

When it comes to the ability of leadership, I think it has a significantly strong connection with Diversity&Equity. I improved the skill of leadership in one of my class, which was Theorizing Black Performance. I loved this class because I developed ability to use performance as a theoretical framework for studying society and culture. It was also this class I learned how to apply the skill of leadership to the real project. While we were preparing the presentation in small groups, I was the group leader of my team and we had three people in total. I made sure everyone was satisfied with his or her own work, respecting their opinions. My every team member contribute actively to the presentation.  We went to see a performance named Love Heals All Wounds, and finished an article together. First part was the description of the stage, the performers and musics. I assigned this part to one of the team member. Secondly, the other team member would like to talk about the detailed of an actress who impressed her. She also talked about how audience reacted. At the end, we came up with the questions for the audience. 

During the whole process, I ensured that every member had her own role. We communicated with each other closely, respecting each other. If there is any conflict, we talked about it and finally made an agreement. That’s how we presenting the project effectively.